Posted December 11, 2008
Democratic Republic of the Congo - The flames under the ashes
(Goma) – School has restarted for the 3,000 youngsters at Don Bosco Center in Goma-Ngangi, but they are sharing space with 1,448 refugees, most of them women and children. The refugees are mainly children (1,092) and include 111 unaccompanied children who have lost their parents in the hasty flight from the fighting, and 40 who have cholera.
Thanks to an outpouring of financial help from many parts of the world, everyone is fed each day, is cared for, clothed and protected. Last month $125,000 was spent to sustain all the scholastic and support work in the Center.
Every day, the refugees wake up and ask themselves what is going to happen to them. The front line of every army in North Kivu consists of the refugees in search of a safe place. The women walk with their children on their backs, their few belongings on their heads and some are suffering from cholera. United Nations Agencies estimate that there are more than 1,600,000 refugees in North Kivu.
The adults are now resigned to the precarious state of war, and the children are used to it. Journalists visiting the refugee camps often hear the same explanation for why the people are in the camp, “They started firing, so we got up and left.” For many children, their only home has been a refugee camp.
Outside the Don Bosco Center in Goma, the situation seems to be like flames under the ashes.
Italy – Giving hope in an inhuman situation
(ANS – Rome) – The Congo Intercongregational Emergency Committee (CIEC) to the National Bishops’ Conference of the Congo wrote a letter to the clergy and religious ministering to the people in war torn Democratic Republic of the Congo. They concluded their letter with the admonition: “May Christ, who became King on the Cross, be your strength and guide you in your ministry and service of this people which continues to suffer and remains inconsolable.”
In their message the CIEC group expressed its distress at the present tragic situation in the Kivu region: “It is deplorable that all the efforts at negotiation and peace-making, at both national and international level have not bourne fruit. The latest outbreak of fighting has caused many deaths and increased the number of refugees causing us great distress.”
The Bishops lamented the great suffering of their own brothers and sisters killed or forced to flee. We have great pain in seeing this people suffering and living without hope.”
In its first meeting the CIEC discussed some practical steps to be taken to make the situation in the Kivu region better known and to support the Church and the population of the country. The group decided on three forms of intervention:
- Spreading information, aimed also at journalists so that wider circulation be given to the situation in the Congo reaching as many people as possible; the Vidimus Dominum Site has opened a special section for documents, interviews, general information;
- The creation of links between sources of information, organizations, Church structures and initiatives already in progress;
Sending letters and messages to Bishops, Religious, and Politicians.
Democratic Republic of the Congo – The Salesian Youth Movement begins its pastoral year
(Lubumbashi) – On Sunday, October 26, 2008, 700 young people from the Salesian Youth Movement (SYM) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo took part in the opening of the 2008-2009 pastoral year at the Salesian Institute of St. Francis of Sales in Lubumbashi.
Sr. Liliane Kaputo, F.M.A., gave an overview of the aims of the SYM and then the young people studied the theme and the priorities for the new pastoral year guided by Fr. Dieudonné Makola, S.D.B., Provincial Delegate for Youth Ministry. Among the educative priorities for the young this year, the province proposed education in prayer.
After the Sunday liturgy enhanced by the choir of the F.M.A. Tuendelee diocesan Sixth Form College the young people took center stage giving presentations on prayer. The Orchestra of St. Francis of Sales Institute of Theology in Lubumbashi, Eschaton, performed several pieces.
United States - Conferences on Human Rights and Salesian Spirituality
(San Francisco) – During the first two weekends of November 2008, the Salesian family of the San Francisco province gathered in both northern and southern California for regional conferences on human rights and Salesian spirituality. The conference theme, With the Heart of Don Bosco, was concretized through keynotes and workshops which educated over 130 participants to human rights, and raised awareness of the abuse of rights for so many in the human family, especially the young. Participants were not left without hope, but were equipped with understanding and resources to live and act in solidarity with those in need.
The keynote speaker for both conferences was Fr. Tom Brennan, S.D.B., the United Nations representative for the NGO Salesians of Don Bosco. Fr. Tom told the many youth in attendance that they can be the generation to end global poverty, should they choose to work for it. He challenged all gathered to shake off the indifference that is the greatest obstacle to achieving the end of so much suffering in the world today.
The workshops included two presentations by Catholic Relief Services, one on their initiative called Food Fast: Migration, Poverty and Hunger and the other on global solidarity illustrated through the story of Thomas Awaipo, a CRS representative, who shared his personal experience of hunger and hope in Ghana. Other speakers addressed the identity of youth immigrants, the promotion of human rights for the young, the fundamental elements needed for healthy adolescent development and how to educate with the heart of Don Bosco. Workshops were also offered in Spanish and Vietnamese, honoring the multi-cultural reality of the Salesian family here on the Pacific Rim.
Finally, a unique element of the conference was a workshop offered for youth, which prepared them for the province Youth Summit, February 13-15. On that weekend youth representatives from province communities will offer their expertise from research done with other youth on topics of immigration and human trafficking. This encounter is designed for youth to provide their collective reflection and recommendations on how the province should respond to these issues in the year ahead.
Bosnia-Herzegovina – The new Youth Center at Zepce
Zepce – On Tuesday, November 18, 2008, the Salesians in Zepce opened the new facilites for the Don Bosco Youth Center.
The Salesian house in Zepce, which includes a junior college and a Technical School, is one of the few places where young people can gather together for sporting and cultural activities. The new center will enable those from different cultures to live together on a daily basis and share scholastic and human formation in harmony. This is essential in a rural town like Zepce which has a majority population of Croatian-Bosnians in a Muslim-Bosnian area.
The experience of the Salesians in Zepce can provide a model for the young nation where peaceful co-existence between the various cultures and ethnic backgrounds is precarious and difficult. The majority of young people in Bosnia Herzegovina is unemployed and have dim prospects for a better future. The intense worldwide economic recession is having a strong negative impact on the area. Bosnia Herzegovina is one of the poorest countries among those which emerged after the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia.
The Center was made possible through the contribution of the Italian Cooperation, the Lombardy Region and the Italian Bishops’ Conference.
Among those present at the opening of the Youth Center were Fr. Ivan Marijanovic, Salesian Provincial in Croatia, Fr. Josip Krpic, Rector of the Zepce house, Tommaso Andria, Councillor of the Italian Embassy in Sarajevo, Stefania Fantuz from Gender & Youth Advisor dell’UTL in Sarajevo, and Gianluca Antonelli, Director General of the International Volunteer Movement for Development.
Argentina – A musical for Don Bosco
(Salta) – Bosco, in the Name of God, a musical, was performed November 12-17, 2008 by the young people from the Salesian House in Salta, in northern Argentina.
The libretto was written 20 years ago by Manuel González Gil, a well-know Argentinian theater director, in honor of the centenary of the death of Don Bosco. It was revised and updated by some youngsters from the Laura Vicuña Institute, the Ángel Zerda Institute and the Salesian Youth Movement (SYM) of Salta.
According to Fr. Ricardo Cámpoli, S.D.B. the director of the production, the staging of the musical was done as an act of homage to Don Bosco while also working to raise funds to support the continuing presence of the Salesians in the area.
The musical gives an account of two journalists looking for a story who meet Don Bosco. This encounter changes their lives.
Poland – The Servant of God, Jan Tyranowski
(Krakow) – On November 19, 2008, the Postulator General of the Salesian Family, Fr. Enrico dal Covolo was received by the Archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz. In their cordial meeting they discussed the causes of beatification and canonization of Jan Leopold Tyranowski, a lay man, and Fr. Jan Swierc,S.D.B. and companions who were martyred in 1942.
During the Second World War, Jan Tyranowski (1901-1947) was a valued co-worker in the St. Stanislaw Kostka Salesian parish in Krakow. At that time, due to Nazi persecution, the parish of Debniki, in Krakow was almost entirely without priests. In these same years, the Servant of God played a fundamental role in the vocation of Karol Wojtyla, the future John Paul II. Jan had founded the Living Rosary Group in the parish and many of the members of this group became priests or religious, including young Karol.
Brazil – A new place for the young
(Palmas) – Don Bosco Youth Center opened in Palmas, the capital of the Brazilian State of Tocantins on November 16, 2008. It is a place where the young can meet together in a positive atmosphere while also growing in their faith. Palmas was founded in 1989, and the Salesian work has grown with it during these nearly twenty years. The Salesians of the Saint John Bosco Province of Belo Horizonte hope that this center will provide an important service for the young, local society, and the Church in Palmas.
The new Salesian foundation was opened by Fr. Nilson Faria dos Santos, Provincial of the Salesians in Belo Horizonte (BBH). Also present at the event were the State Secretary for Science and Technology, Mr. Osmar Nina Garcia Neto, and the Secretary for Work and Social Development, Mrs. Valkyrie Moreira Rezende.
The new Youth Center was made possible through the cooperation of the local authorities of Palmas and Tocantins, the support of the Swiss Leopoldo Bachmann Foundation and of the Jugendhilfe Lateinamerika (Help for Latin American Youth).
Salesians Declare Their Solidarity with the Young: Dear Children we are Remembering you
The Universal Children’s Day promoted by UNICEF and celebrated each year on November 20th reminded the World Community about children’s rights. That the General Assembly of the United Nations ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the Convention which has received the greatest agreement among the countries in the world. To date, 193 countries have signed on to the document, and there is hope that the few remaining countries who have not will do so.
In spite of progress in safeguarding the well being of young people, we must acknowledge that 70% of the 11 million or so children who die each year, do so for six preventable causes: diahrea, malaria, infections at birth, pneumonia, miscarriages, or lack of oxygen at birth. To this sad statisitic, we need to add that 73 million children do not have access to primary education (MDGR 2008).
“In the last 15 years, 80% of the civil victims of wars have been women and children. At least 2 million children were killed by guns or bombings and 6 million were wounded, disabled or suffered from psychological traumas, having been forced to witness terrible acts and episodes of abuse and violence. It is estimated that there are 22 million children who are refugees and are displaced as a result of wars. The consequences of the wars also persist long after the end of hostilities. It is calculated that every year there are between 8,000 and 10,000 young victims of unexploded bombs or personnel mines left in the fields. And there are at least 250,000 minors – caught up in 17 conflicts as soldiers, spies, messengers, cooks, “wives” of the fighters (in the case of girls) and enlisted in rebel armies in at least 24 countries and territories. As a result of wars, 37 million boys and girls are today deprived of education” (Statistics from Save The Children).
The Salesian Congregation, constantly involved in educating the new generations, are encouraged by the Rector Major’s Strenna for 2008 and are holding an International Congress on The Preventive System and Human Rights, Janauary 2-6, 2009, in Rome.
Thailand - Vicar of Rector Major visits Thailand
( Bangkok) - Fr. Adrian Bregolin, the vicar of the Rector Major, arrived at the Provincial House, Bangkok, on the evening of Sunday, Nov. 9, 2008. On Monday, Nov. 10th, he went to Chiang Mai where he met with the confreres and visited the Salesian work there. In the evening he returned to Bangkok and then to Nazareth House, Banpong.
The time in the province gave the Vicar of the Rector Major an opportunity to see a wide variety of houses including the Sarasit School, Nazareth House, the Salesian Cemetary, to the Salesian Formation House at Sampran, Don Bosco School and St. Dominic School in Bangkok and the Center for the blind at Pakkred.
Fr. Bregolin was happy report that the Salesians are a powerful catalyst for the welfare of the poor in Thailand. He encouraged the Salesians to endure the challenge they face and continue their dedication to the betterment of the people, especially the young.
Ukraine – You are doing a world of good
(Lviv) – On November 15, 2008, the Italian Ambassador to the Ukraine, His Excellency Pietro Giovanni Donnici, visited Blessed Philip Rinaldi Salesian House in Lviv, the headquarters of the Mary Help of Christians Salesian Delegation of the Byzantine-Ukraine Rite. He was accompanied by his wife and by the Consul representative for Western Ukraine of the Italian Embassy in Kiev, Gianluca Sardelli. Fr. Onorino Pistellato, Superior of the Delegation, and the Vice Superior Fr. Andrii Platosh welcomed them.
Fr. Mykhailo Chaban, Rector of the Salesian House in Lviv, gave the guests a tour of the Family Home for Orphans and St. Dominic Savio Oratory. Fr. Pistellato spoke to them about the pastoral work undertaken by the Salesians in the Ukraine.
Ambassador Donnici spoke of his admiration at the world of good the Salesians are doing in the Ukraine and thanked them for their warm welcome. The Ambassador indicated that he had witnessed the commitment of the Salesians to education education in both Italy and in Hong Kong where he had been Consul. He said he was proud of “being a friend of the Salesians.”
Hungary – Conference on Salesian pedagogy
(Budapest) – About two hundred people including teachers and others working with young people took part in the annual meeting of the Salesian Family in Hungary on education on Nov. 14, 2008 at the Salesian Provincial House in Budapest.
The meeting was opened by Fr. József Havasi, the former Provincial of Hungary who welcomed everyone and recalled the educational aim of the Salesian school educating young people to be as Don Bosco used to say, “good Christians and upright citizens.”
The keynote address was delivered by by Dr. Rózsáné Czigány Eniko, a Salesian-Cooperator, and university lecturer in education. She spoke of aggressive behavior by young people in school and at home, and gave some practical suggestions from the Salesian perspective to help the youngsters to cope well with the challenges of adolescence.
Dr. Hoffmann Rózsa, a university lecturer, Member of the Hungarian Parliament, and President of the Parliamentary Education Committee, compared liberal and conservative educational policies and showed the value of Catholic education in today’s world.
The third speaker, Csány Márton, the one in charge of the Salesian Youth Movement in Hungary spoke about the educator’s role in a Salesian School.
Now in its eighth year, the Education Conference is organized by the Salesian Family in Hungary to promote Don Bosco’s Preventive System among young teachers and youth workers.
Lithuania – Interest in Salesian pedagogy
(Vilnius) – Fr. Alessandro Barelli, Rector of the Salesian community in Vilnius delivered a stimulating paper during an international seminar: Education of the Individual and Religious Formation in the XXI Century. The event took place at the Educational University of the Lithuanian capital, Nov. 13-14, 2008.
The talk by Fr. Barelli, The Preventive System of Don Bosco: a Possible Educational Approach, was much appreciated by those attending the seminar. Many showed a special interest in the cultural and pedagogic contribution that the Salesian system has to offer. According to the Salesians in Lithuania, such an interest bodes well for the future of the Salesians there.
The seminar was held as part of the celebrations of the 15th anniversary of the setting up of the Chair in Theology at the Univeristy. The premises of the Theology Department where teachers of Catholic religion are now trained was ironically the site of the Higher Institute for Atheistic Formation during the Soviet regime
India - Don Bosco Youth Animation-South Asia Council meeting
( Chennai) - Sixty Salesians from the 10 provinces of India and the vice province of Sri Lanka came together for the DBYA-South Asia Council meeting held at the Salesian Provincial House, Chennai, Nov. 14-16, 2008. All the provinces were represented by their Youth Ministry Delegate and their Youth Ministry teams. Fr. Fabio Attard, the Councillor for Youth Ministry, with two members of the youth ministry department, Frs. Antoni Balcerzak and Dominic Sequeira, and Fr. Maria Kanaga, the regional for South Asia, also participated in the meeting.
Fr. Stanislaus, the Provincial of Chennai Province, welcomed the gathering and the youth ministry team from Rome. Fr. Maria Kanaga invited the participants to keep in mind some important concepts of faith: making a difference, critical thinking and looking at our ministry in a broader context. The Provinces did a brief presentation of Youth Ministry in their respective provinces. Later Fr. Fabio and Fr. Maria Kanaga presented the Youth Ministry Plan and the Plan of the South Asia region respectively. Based on the actual situation and having listened to the plan of the youth ministry department in Rome and the plan of the South Asia region the members got down to work on the DBYA 6 year plan for the South Asia region.
The Priority areas of the DBYA plan for the South Asia region are:
- God-centredness/Evangelization/Salesian Youth spirituality
- Reaching out to the Marginalized youth in the neighborhood
- Lay Collaboration
- Youth Ministry for nation building and promotion of peace
- Media
Vietnam – Salesian Missionary Animation
(Ho Chi Min City) – On the anniversary of the first Salesian Missionary Expedition on November 11, 1875, Fr. Vaclav Klement, Councillor for the Missions, presented the topic and the aims for Salesian Mission Sunday (DOMISAL) for 2009. While visiting our works in Vietnam, Fr. Klement sent out the new DOMISAL to the Superiors and Delegates for Missions Promotion in every Province and Vice Province of the congregation, and indicated the objectives for DOMISAL 2009. As we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Congregation, he invited us to improve missionary animation.
The need to improve the quality of missionary animation emerged during the first meeting of the World Consultative Body for the Missions held in Rome, Sept. 30 – Oct. 2, 2008. Fr. Klement called for the relaunching of the missionary spirit in the Salesian Congregation and an examination of the Individual Province structures for animation during the coming year.
The slogan for DOMISAL 2009 is: Keep Your Missionary Flame Alive!
Since 1988, the Salesian Mission Sunday (DOMISAL) has given the Provinces and Salesian communities an aim and a program for missionary animation. In the recent past, the Salesians have focused on: Mongolia (2005), Sudan (2006-2007), HIV/AIDS Prevention (2008). Our Discover Sudan Campaign was used in 4,000 state schools in Germany.
In his letter Fr. Klement says that in 2009, while focusing on improving missionary animation, the aim for 2008, Educating to Love: The Salesian Response to AIDS/HIV is still a focus of the congregation. Looking ahead, the Councillor indicated that the topic for DOMISAL 2010 is: Mission Among the Young Zingari – Rom - Gypsies.
Argentina – Agreement between the Salesians and the BBVA French Bank
(Rosario) – Our Lady of the Rosary Salesian Institute and Banca Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA)– French Bank Foundation signed an agreement on Nov. 4, 2008 to fund scholarships for pupils of María Luisa de Olguín School and Nazareth Vocational Training Center in the Ludueña district of Rosario.
On the same day, representatives of the Foundation presented the first scholarships to young people between the ages of 12 and 19 whose family economic situation threatened their ability to continue their schooling.
The economic support program will also offer an opportunity to those who have already been exlcuded from school due to economic hardship to return to school and learn the necessary technical skills required to find decent employment.
The scholarships are awarded annually and can be renewed for a maximum of three years. Tutors are provided throughout the time of the scholarship to ensure the commitment of the students and their family.
Mexico – “I am a young Salesian!”
(Tlaquepaque) – November 7-9, 2008, the Salesian Theological Institute in Tlaquepaque, Mexico hosted the annual Assembly of the Salesian Youth Movement (SYM) in the Mexico-Guadalajara Province (MEG). The theme of the gathering was: I am a young Salesian!
There were 160 young leaders from centers in the Province and from other centers and parishes inspired by the Salesian charism participated. They shared their ideas and experiences, and continued the work of renewal of the groups and associations making up the SYM. Each group and association was able to assess its own progress during the year and planned for the future.
Fr. Salvador Delgadillo, Vice Provincial of MEG, presided at the Sunday Mass and encouraged the young people to draw strength from God in order to fight evil and to become builders of a world in which the young are not exploited and can discover Jesus as the firm foundation of their lives.
India – Development from a Human Rights Perspective
(Siloam) - Development from a Human Rights Perspective was the theme of the 12th National Seminar of Salesian Development Offices held at Shillong, Meghalaya, India.
Fr. Davis Arickatt S.D.B., Director of Bosco Reach Out and the Economer of the Province of Guwahati gave the opening address and spoke of the direction that the Salesian Development Offices should take from a human rights perspective.
On the first day of the seminar, presenters included Fr. Joe Almeida, Provincial of the Salesians of Guwahati, Fr. Francis Alencherry, S.D.B., former General Councillor for the Missions, Fr. A.M. Jose, convener of the Salesian Development Offices, India, Fr. Thomas Pallithanam from Hyderabad and Mr. Khilesh Chaturvedi from ASK, Delhi.
Don Almeida, referred to the Strenna-2008 of the Rector Major and exhorted the participants to accompany the young by upholding their basic human rights. Mr. Khilesh, the facilitator of the seminar, detailed the modalities of the two-day session and the study of human rights issues from a national perspective, through a process of analysis, response and decision.
Fr. Francis Alenchery, S.D.B. gave the keynote address on Salesians and their Commitment to Promoting Human Rights. He presented human rights throught the lenses of the Scriptures, the Church and our Salesian Charism.
Cuba – A parish that communicates
(Santa Clara) – During October 2008, the Salesian parish, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, in Santa Clara, Cuba took a number of initiatiatives to spread the good news of what is happening in their parish with other Cubans.
On October 29th, the Feast of Blessed Michael Rua, Bishop Marcelo Arturo González, of Santa Clara, blessed and opened a recording studio at the parish. The opening of this studio, the second of this type in Cuba, expresses the concern by the parish to spread its commitment to communication, understood as a way of promoting Gospel values and human development according to the Salesian charism.
The opening was accompanied by a Concert performed by Ars Nova, a musical group from Santa Clara and the Mount Syón Choir. During a Mass on that day the Servant of God, Fr. José Vandor, S.D.B., to whom the communication center was dedicated, was remebered on the 99th anniversary of his birth.
October 17-19, 2008, the Salesian Scenic Arts Company (COARTES), presented a theater festival. The program included performances, technical workshops, and some talks on theater from a Salesian perspective.
Also during October, the parish launched it own web site - www.elcarmen.parroquia.org – where it is possible to find a history of the Salesian parish and information about events.
Back to Salesian World News » |
